Clarke MacArthur, with his career-high 17th goal, and Phil Kessel scored for Toronto on Tuesday night in a game that neither team appeared overly eager to win.

Leafs winger Colby Armstrong, right, with New York defenceman Bruno Gervais in pursuit, tries to jam the puck past Islanders goalie Al Montoya during the second period Tuesday night.

By:Paul HunterSports Reporter, Published on Tue Feb 22 2011

On Tuesday night, it was hard to know who made the better case for Clarke MacArthur to get a lucrative new contract, MacArthur or the rest of the bumbling Maple Leafs.

With MacArthur as the back story — during the day his agent Don Meehan opened what he termed “general discussions” with the Leafs as the two sides try to work towards an extension — Toronto stumbled to a 2-1 victory over the New York Islanders.

It was a good night for MacArthur to pot his career-high 17th goal. But the 25-year-old’s real value was underlined by the inability of his teammates to finish in what looked like a game between the Washington Generals and the Washington Generals.

Until Phil Kessel danced from end to end to score the winner with just under five minutes left, the only art in this effort was the black-spotted pointillism on the end boards from Leafs’ missed shots.

With talks underway, MacArthur’s goal, his first in seven games, served as an exclamation point on his value. GM Brian Burke has said that if he and MacArthur can’t agree on a new deal “that makes sense” by the weekend, he’ll listen to offers for his leading point-getter before Monday’s trade deadline.

To his credit, MacArthur said he is trying to ignore the negotiations while keeping his attention on his team and its Sisyphean playoff push. For those tracking the mammoth task, Toronto’s victory, combined with Carolina’s shootout loss to the Rangers, means the Leafs are six points behind the eighth-place Hurricanes with a game in hand. Toronto is an impressive 7-2-2 since the all-star break.

“They want to get as fair a deal as we do,” said MacArthur of his contract talks. “That’s the business side and I don’t want to focus on that. I don’t want that stuff distracting me. Hopefully I’ve shown enough where they want to keep me around. I hope it works out. It’s a great place to be and I’d love to stay.”

This game, besides serving as a reminder of MacArthur’s breakout year, also prompted onlookers to recall Kessel’s flash, marvel at James Reimer’s inspiring goaltending and wonder when the Leafs might get a power-play quarterback like that Tomas Kaberle fellow who plays for the Bruins. Defensive specialist Tim Brent was playing there at times in this game.

The Toronto power play is now 0-for-9 since the Kaberle trade, though it must be noted that it wasn’t much better before he departed. It was 2-for-17 in the last four games Kaberle was in the lineup and has wallowed near the bottom of the league all season. Oddly, though, in each of the last two games the Leafs have taken a too-many-men-on-the-ice penalty during a man advantage.

Burke has said he is trying to acquire a defenceman and had hoped to have a new one in the lineup for this game with the Isles. While he is thought to be investigating various possibilities — Colorado’s John-Michael Liles keeps surfacing in rumours — there was no new blood on the blue line in this game.

Toronto has only been able to generate four goals in the last three games but, largely because of Reimer’s netminding, they captured five out of six points in those games.

Reimer, who made 28 saves, wasn’t surprised that Kessel came up with the winner when the Leafs were at their most desperate. After a 14-game drought, the sniper now has four goals in the last four games.

“(Kessel) makes me look foolish in practice all the time. I kind of had a feeling he might do something when he picked the puck up (in the Toronto end), and sure enough, he potted it. It was a sick goal,” said Reimer. “I figure I might be able to take some credit for it because I was yelling for him to wheel. Maybe that counts as an assist.”

Kessel was less colourful in his recollection of the goal: “Obviously, I’ve had my chances here but fortunately, I was able to go end to end.”

Toronto got a pair of injured bodies back up front with Colby Armstrong and Mike Brown returning the lineup. The Leafs sent Christian Hanson to the Marlies and Joey Crabb to the press box to make room.

While the Leafs helped his cause, Al Montoya was outstanding in the Islanders’ net as well. Matt Moulson of Mississauga scored the Isles goal, his team-leading 27th of the season.

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